Day 9 - The Things You Don't Know

Today, I learned something I didn’t know. I seem to be doing that a lot lately as far as diet and health are concerned.

The television was on in the break room at work… some morning show. I was warming up my breakfast and the health segment of the show came on. It was some doctor who just wrote a book about eating to beat diabetes. This, of course, piqued my interest—due to the fact that I am trying to cut out sugar and also due to the fact that before I began the Challenge, Joshua had really been concerned about the amount of sugar I was consuming daily and my family history of adult-onset diabetes. Anyways, my attention was grabbed and I forgot that I wasn’t supposed to be watching television. I’ll give myself a free pass since I was watching something related to my health. So I watched this segment where the doctor was revealing all the sugar that hides in foods that are fat free, etc. But what really got me was that in a lot of foods that advertise being “sugar free” there is an enormous amount of starch, which the body converts into sugar. I didn’t even know that. I have not cut out eating potatoes and corn (although I am monitoring how much I eat of them), which I know to be starchy vegetables. My battle with insidious sugar continues.

I thought about this for awhile, and decided that I think I would like to be able to eat a small amount of potatoes and corn during my Challenge. Meaning, I will not be eating potatoes and corn every day, nor will they replace the green veggies that I know need to make up the majority of my diet (still struggling with that one). But after some consideration, I think that if I step up my activity level beyond CFA (as in, walking or running several times a week) those two veggies shouldn’t kill me or prevent me from losing weight or feeling great. We’ll see though. This is only the beginning of Week 2… if I feel like those foods are becoming heavy or making me sluggish, I will cut them out.

So far, I have not felt an increase in my energy levels. I am waiting for that… everyone says it will come. I am going to give myself three weeks to feel a change before I start wondering if something is wrong. I have been pretty fatigued, though. Some of it is mental fatigue, I know. I need to find meaningful ways to refresh my spirit during this journey. It is very easy for me to become discouraged.

I have a genuine interest in our nation’s health and I hope one day I will be able to pay it forward and help those people who need it. I truly believe that much of it has to do with our culture’s transition to a supermarket and fast food nation, the increase in technology (which is great but has led to a sedentary lifestyle), and genuine ignorance on the part of the average American. The statistics about obesity in our country are alarming, and my heart really goes out to those who struggle with significant weight loss. I would love to open up a gym (CFA-style) one day that is especially for those who struggle with obesity that are really ready to make a change. But first I want to set the example in my own life. So the journey continues…